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New defence's needed to stop a fanatical foe
Homeland Security officials have just approved a $10m scheme to equip an eight-mile stretch of freight track used to carry hazardous materials between Reagan National Airport and the Benning Road rail yard in Washington with the latest surveillance sensors. If a vehicle or individual is not identified then an alarm will sound, alerting the emergency services. The rail link will also be scanned by nuclear, biological and chemical detectors. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away from Capitol Hill, deep within the cave-like laboratories of the infamous research centre that gave birth to the A-bomb, scientists have begun work on a new, highly classified project. Since the destruction of the World Trade Center, staff at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico have been trying to second-guess the terrorists. Harnessing
super-powerful computers, they simulate potential future strikes, including
hackers taking control of nuclear power stations or a smallpox attack on an
American city,
British security analysts suggest that less hi-tech counter-measures will be of more immediate use in high-risk environments such as underground stations and public buildings. These are as simple as beefing up visible police patrols, removing rubbish bins from streets and cordoning off parts of cities with concrete blocks and metal barriers - measures all known to deter bombers and used to combat Irish terrorism. Public vigilance, also crucial against the IRA, is essential to prevent widespread casualties. Despite the failures to prevent the two London attacks, experts remain convinced that human-led intelligence is the real key to cracking the threat posed by radical jihadist groups - and many look to Israel for inspiration. Professor David Capitanchik, formerly of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and one of the country's leading terrorism experts, said: "It would be effective or desirable to have large numbers of armed officers constantly patrolling public transport systems like the Israeli guards you see at bus stations and on buses themselves. It does not stop every bomber getting through, and you have to bear in mind they are a much smaller country, to achieve anything similar we would have to effectively recruit another auxiliary police force. Our resources would be far better deployed in recruiting informers and gathering intelligence from Islamic-linked groups in the way the Israelis have managed to do. Of course, it is going to take time, but intelligence is the best form of defence, while stepping up security by itself will do little to counteract the threat." Alex Standish, editor of Jane's Intelligence Digest, agreed: "Technology such as phone tapping and electronic eavesdropping has some role to play in terms of surveillance, however, the type of terrorists involved in this kind of activity are smart enough to know they could be monitored and will use public telephones and unregistered pay-as-you-go mobiles to communicate, and anonymous e-mail accounts from internet cafes. To crack this nut we will have to build a picture from within the communities from where these people are coming from." Already there are signs of security officials being forced to adopt Middle East-style anti-terror measures to keep Britain's streets safer, with the Stockwell Tube suspect gunned down by police operating a shoot-to-kill policy. It is a controversial tactic widely deployed by the Israelis and is only resorted to in the most extreme circumstances, but police have been preparing to use it for the last two weeks. Colonel Clive Fairweather, former deputy commander of the SAS and now a security consultant, has experience of shoot-to-kill policies from his time with the elite army unit. He warns that Britain is now facing unknown challenges which could force MI5 and other agencies to completely rethink their counter-terrorism strategies. "We have a very good baseline to operate from, given our experiences in Northern Ireland and 30 years of dealing with Republican bombing campaigns, until now we were used to dealing with what I term 'rational terrorists', those who want to make their escape or are willing to negotiate. But these people are only willing to negotiate with their maker. It still remains to be seen if we are dealing with a suicide bomb campaign, only time will tell. However, if that is the case then we are going to have to tear up the rule book and totally rethink our entire security strategy." |
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Although
the Home Office is thought to be considering piloting a similar system, the
authorities in America are already pressing ahead with implementing a host of
other technical innovations. 